If a federal agency is found guilty of violating someone's
civil rights, the Department of Justice pays any monetary damages.
Taxpayers foot the bill, while the offending agency is all but
unaffected.

The "No Fear" bill (officially titled the "Notification
of Federal Employees Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation Act of
2001"), considered the first civil rights legislation of
the 21st century, would make government agencies responsible for
their actions. Under the provisions of the bill, an agency would
have any monetary damages paid from their own budget. The bill
also provides additional protections for whistleblowers who expose
abuse, mismanagement and fraud.1

No Fear would protect people such as former Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) employee Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo. Dr. Coleman-Adebayo
filed a lawsuit against the EPA claiming senior management discriminated
against her because she is a woman and an African-American. She
further claimed she was hindered by agency supervisors in her
attempts to meet a request by the South African government for
EPA assistance in helping people exposed to the toxic ore Vanadium.2

In August of 2000, a jury awarded Dr. Coleman-Adebayo $600,000
in damages from the EPA for enduring a hostile work environment.3

Under the No Fear bill, a federal agency found guilty of discrimination
or trying to silence a whistleblower would pay any damages awarded
from its own budget. Taxpayers still ultimately pay, but the offending
agency would "pay," too, by being forced to tighten
its belt.

Debate over legislation such as this should be as tranquil
as it gets. For a while, it was. Last October, the unlikely duo
of House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI),
a House manger during the Clinton impeachment hearings, and Congresswoman
Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), a liberal member of the Congressional
Black Caucus, co-sponsored the No Fear bill. It was unanimously
passed.4

But then the bill went to the Senate.

It took until March for Senator Joe Lieberman's (D-CT) Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee to move the bill to the Senate
floor. But the bill still waits for Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle (D-SD) to schedule a vote.

According to those working for Senate approval of the No Fear
bill, politics is slowing the progress. Liberals in the Senate
who control the flow of legislation don't want to give President
George W. Bush the pleasure of promoting and signing the first
civil rights legislation of the new century. Following this rationale,
they apparently are willing to wait until the Democrats regain
the White House to seriously discuss the issue.

This bill is too important to fall victim to stall tactics.
The longer the No Fear bill is stalled, the longer it will be
before federal agencies are effectively compelled to respect their
employees' civil rights. And the longer it is stalled, the longer
it will be before federal employees are empowered to reveal corruption
and incompetence without fear of reprisal.

Earlier this year, researchers conducting a study for the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service knowingly submitted false samples of
lynx DNA. A whistleblower revealed the disingenuous action before
any data could be used to create regulations that hurt property
rights in falsely designated lynx habitats.5
In 2001, a government cartographer falsified a map showing caribou
calving in arctic areas proposed for oil exploration.6 Although a lie, the myth of endangering
wildlife was one factor that led to the defeat of legislation
authorizing new Alaskan oil exploration and is helping to continue
our nation's continued dependence on oil from international hotspots
like Iraq and Venezuela.

These misdeeds were uncovered. What other governmental injustices
are yet to be found? The No Fear bill would make it safer for
whistleblowers to go public about corruption.

Seen in this light, it's not difficult to understand why both
ends of the political spectrum support the No Fear bill. Conservatives
such as Representative Sensenbrenner, liberals such as Representative
Jackson-Lee and even the Reverend Al Sharpton all support it.
It's only political posturing by the President's opponents that
seems to block its progress.

The rest of America works under rules and consequences - we
should expect the same from our government.

# # #

Syd Gerntein is a research associate of The National Center
for Public Policy Research, a Washington, D.C. think tank. Comments
may be sent to [email protected].

Footnotes:

1 "Notification
and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of
2001," Thomas Legislative Information, Library of Congress,
Washington, DC, downloaded from http://www.thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:3:./temp/~c107L843kl::
on April 4, 2002.2 Testimony of Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Science, Washington, DC, October
4, 200, downloaded from http://www.house.gov/science/adebayo_100400.htm
on April 19, 2002.3 Cathy Newman, "Lawmakers Denounce EPA Over Alleged
Bias," The Washington Post, October 5, 2000, p. A33.
4 Hans S. Nichols and Sam MacDonald, "Lieberman Not
Making Any Friends With Delay of 'No Fear' Bill," Insight
Magazine, February 25, 2002, downloaded from http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=189905
on April 4, 2002.5 Audrey Hudson, "GAO: Lynx Fur Hoax Was No Secret,"
The Washington Times, March 7, 2002, downloaded from http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020307-374201.htm
on April 4, 2002.6 "Truth is First Casualty in the Environmental Movement's
War Against Bush," Scoop, The National Center for
Public Policy Research, Washington DC, May 31, 2001, available
at http://wwwnationalcenter.org/Scoop216.html.